ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
"At a time when much of downtown Boston is restlessly growing and changing, there is reassurance in simple continuities. One of these is the so-called Jewelers Block along the west side of Washington Street at Bromfield and Winter, the headquarters for nearly a century of Boston’s jewelry industry.

The older of these photos dates from 1934, the newer from 1989. Not much has changed – luckily so, because the changes we do see are all for the worse....

ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
"At a time when much of downtown Boston is restlessly growing and changing, there is reassurance in simple continuities. One of these is the so-called Jewelers Block along the west side of Washington Street at Bromfield and Winter, the headquarters for nearly a century of Boston’s jewelry industry.

The older of these photos dates from 1934, the newer from 1989. Not much has changed – luckily so, because the changes we do see are all for the worse.

The handsome two-story building at right, for example, a Niesner’s 5 cent to $1 store in 1934, in 1989 is skinned with aluminum panels for a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant that looks more like a glossy carton than a building. And all up and down the street at the roof lines, projecting cornices and decorative crowns have been ruthlessly stripped off. Presumably it was decided that these were in danger of falling. The owners, consulting only their pocketbooks, decided that it would be cheaper to remove than to repair them.

The tallest building retains its cornice, though without the lacy copper trim that once topped it. This is the delightful Jewelers Building at 371-379 Washington Street, an early skyscraper dating from 1898.

The Jewelers is an example of the ornate Beaux-Arts style of architecture, so named from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where many Americans went to study architecture in the late 19th century. Designed by the noted firm of Winslow and Wetherell, the Jewelers is frosted as richly as a cake with elaborate detail made of the hard cast clay known as terra cotta.

The Boston Landmarks Commission notes that the Jewelers Building has been ‘traditionally considered the jewelry center of Boston and New England.’ It is still occupied primarily by the offices of jewelry companies."